Stanislaus elections makes it easier to vote in Tuesday’s primary
Stanislaus County voters can get a head start on Tuesday’s presidential primary this weekend in Salida, Oakdale, Turlock and Patterson.
The county election office opened satellite offices in the four communities, where voters can do everything they can do at the office in downtown Modesto while skipping the trip there. (And the main office is not open over the weekend.)
That includes registering to vote, getting new absentee ballots to replace lost or damaged ones, as well as casting votes. The offices will be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Monday and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday.
The offices will be in the library branches in Salida, Oakdale and Patterson and the county’s Community Services Agency facility in Turlock. The CSA facility is at 1310 W. Main St.
“Our thought process was we need something to make it more convenient,” Stanislaus County Registrar of Voters Donna Linder said in a Thursday interview. “We are looking at doing the same thing in November (for the election). This is our first time, and we are trying to offer a benefit to voters.”
While Feb. 18 was the cutoff to register to vote, it is not too late to cast a ballot for Tuesday’s primary.
California has expanded what is called conditional voter registration, allowing people to register and vote in Tuesday’s primary at county election offices, polling places and anywhere else they can vote. The conditional voter law, which took effect in 2018, had allowed conditional voter registration only at county election offices, according to Linder.
But these voters’ ballots will not be counted until after the voters’ eligibility has been confirmed during the 30 days after Tuesday’s primary. Linder stressed that people must register as conditional voters at the county election office, the four satellite offices or polling places. She said they cannot register online.
Voters can learn more about the primary, including their polling places, at www.stanvote.com.
No Party Preference voters
Another wrinkle is that voters registered as no party preference may have to pick a political party if they want to vote for president in the primary. They don’t have to switch from no party preference to vote in any other race. (And yes, President Donald Trump has several Republican challengers on the ballot.)
If a NPP voter wants to vote for a Republican, Green or Peace & Freedom presidential candidate, he will need to change his registration to that party. That can be done at polling places Tuesday, at the election office or at one of the satellite offices. But the Democratic, American Independent and Libertarian parties let voters registered as NPP vote for their presidential candidates.
No Party Preference voters are a big part of the electorate. As of Jan. 3, they made up 25.9 percent of all registered voters statewide, according to the California Secretary of State’s office. Democrats were 44.6 percent of voters; Republicans were 23.7 percent.
In Stanislaus County, NPP voters made up 21 percent of the county’s 260,750 registered voters. Democrats were 37.6 percent, and Republicans were 34.9 percent, as of Jan. 3.
Primary voters in Stanislaus County will be casting votes for candidates for state Senate and Assembly, California Congressional District 10, three seats on the county Board of Supervisors, and three Superior Court judgeships. More information is available at stanvote.com/pdf/candidate-list.pdf.
This story was originally published February 28, 2020 at 2:10 PM.
